On the drive through northern Guatemala yesterday, I wondered to myself what constituted a jungle being a jungle and not just a lot of trees. Today, I can confirm that Tikal is definitely in the jungle. Different signposts on the road to the Mayan ruins warn of numerous wild animals on the road, including deer, snakes, jaguars, wild turkeys and some other animal that I did not recognise. Surprisingly, there were no signs for chickens or goats, both of which caused the driver to slam on the brakes during the journey.
Inside the park, the jungle sounds of parrots, howler monkeys and the complaints from ignoramus englishmen in flipflops about having sore feet can all be heard. Spider monkeys in the trees apparently try to crap on the heads of passersby, but none took an interest in me. That said, I did nearly shit myself climbing the 106 shaky, almost vertical wooden steps to the top of Tikal's 56 metre high Temple V, as I realised that one wrong move could quickly bring the end of both my trip and also my life.
I sat at the top of the temple for a long while, taking in the spectacular views of the jungle canopy stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions around me, cursing the 60+ year old French woman that had overtaken me on the ladder on the way up with a cheerful "Ca va?", and most of all, wondering how the hell I was going to get back down to ground level without looking like a complete pussy.
Inside the park, the jungle sounds of parrots, howler monkeys and the complaints from ignoramus englishmen in flipflops about having sore feet can all be heard. Spider monkeys in the trees apparently try to crap on the heads of passersby, but none took an interest in me. That said, I did nearly shit myself climbing the 106 shaky, almost vertical wooden steps to the top of Tikal's 56 metre high Temple V, as I realised that one wrong move could quickly bring the end of both my trip and also my life.
I sat at the top of the temple for a long while, taking in the spectacular views of the jungle canopy stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions around me, cursing the 60+ year old French woman that had overtaken me on the ladder on the way up with a cheerful "Ca va?", and most of all, wondering how the hell I was going to get back down to ground level without looking like a complete pussy.
